The Fox, The Raccoon & The Avatar
by grasshopper named octavias
Summary: NarutoXAvatar Xover. The normal Avatar storyline, but how will Gaara and Naruto affect it? Will it be for better or for worse? Read and find out!
1. Chapter 1

**AN: HEEEY GUYS! another story...I know I haven't updating on the other two stories much, but I haven't really been working on this one either, it's just been sitting around on my computer and I decided to put it on. I've got about 3 chapters written on this one so be ready for this one. I've been working diligently on my book, and due to the poll I will not be telling you guys anything about my book because they've voted "don't do that because somebody could steal your ideas", so sorry. I do have another chapter of new life new world written I've just sent it to my cowriter to see if they want to add anything. And I'm sorry, I know I said I would but I haven't really been working on Life of a blind jinchuuriki but I'm trying my best to write 3 stories and a book at the same time, just bear with me. Now time to end the AN and go to the story!**

Chapter 1

Two young men were walking down a dirt road. The one on the left had spiky blonde hair, he looked about five feet eight inches tall. His face strong with absolutely no baby fat, with three whisker marks on each cheek. His skin had a nice tan and was absent of any kind of blemish. He wore an orange and black jumpsuit and black ninja sandals.

The one on the right had calm red hair, he was also about five foot eight inches tall. His pale white skin greatly contrasting with the dark rings of an insomniac under his dull green eyes. On his forehead was the kanji for "love" in the form of a blood red tattoo. On his back he carried a large gourd.

The pair had been traveling aimlessly for months. And it is with these two that our story begins.

"Oi, Gaara" the blonde addressed his companion "where are we?"

"I do not know where we are, Naruto, we will just have to ask the next traveler we see" he answered him, his emotionless voice just coming over a whisper.

"Aww, we haven't seen anyone on this road for weeks. What makes you think we will anytime soon?" Naruto complained.

"What makes you think we wont?" Gaara retorted "Just be patient, Uzumaki, we will find someone soon" And with that said they continued on in silence.

Naruto kept on walking, looking up at the sky with a small smile. It had been a few minutes since Naruto had last spoken when all of a sudden his face turned serious, now looking straight ahead. "Someone's coming" he said.

"Who?" Gaara asked with a little interest.

"I don't know, but it's something big" Naruto said listening intently "it's about a mile behind us on the road"

"Be prepared, Uzumaki, they may not be friendly." Gaara warned.

"This is so boring" Mai said in a bored voice "I hate being cooped up in this tiny tank." She complained.

"For once I agree with you, Mai" Azula said with a sigh.

"Come on guys, there's no reason to be the grouchy" Tai Lee said trying to make her friends not so gloomy "Look on the bright side, at lest we're all still friends"

Mai and Azula both stared at Tai Lee blankly, then at each other, Before heaving a large sigh in unison.

"Soldier!" Azula called, a fire nation soldier came in the room. "Take a few tanks and scout ahead for people we need to interrogate," She ordered finally having found something fun to do.

"Yes Lady Azula, at once" the soldier said with a low bow.

He left the three girls and to the top of the tank to look outside.

"When do you think he'll be ba-" Tai Lee was interrupted by the door opening and the soldier coming back into the room.

"Back so soon?" Azula questioned.

"Lady Azula, there are two young men, presumably mid-teens, right up the road" he said.

"Hmm..." she began to think to herself "Soldier, bring them to me"

"Yes ma'am" he said quickly in affirmation.

"Hopefully these two are interesting enough to keep me from being bored." Mai said.

Naruto and Gaara had stopped walking and turned around to face the on coming convoy of large metal tanks. "What a waste of resources" Gaara commented "All that metal could supply Suna for years."

"Yeah, well we aren't in Suna now are we?" Naruto said sarcastically.

"Of course not, we left there months ago" Gaara answered seriously.

Naruto looked over at him "Sarcasm is a foreign language to you isn't it?"

By this time they were surrounded by five of the tanks. A soldier wearing red armor popped out of the tank directly in front of them "Halt!" he commanded firmly "By order of the fire lord, you are to be taken in and interrogated for information, if you do not comply then we will have to use deadly force"

"Yeah well your fire lord can kiss my ass!" Naruto yelled before Gaara could stop him

The soldier's face was taken over by a look of anger. "Then by order of the fire nation princess, you will die. Soldiers!"

The Fire nation soldiers were about to attack but were stopped by Azula who had just come out of the main tank "Stop, I gave no such order" She said

"But Lady Azula, they insulted you and the fire lord, they must be dest-" the soldier was cut off.

"Are you questioning me?" Azula asked darkly, staring the man directly in the eyes.

The poor soldier couldn't look away as a babbled out an answer "N-n-n-n-no m-m-a'am, I'm not q-questioning you at all, my mistake."

"Yes, your mistake" She said.

"Who're you?" Naruto asked the Raven haired girl.

Azula smirked at him "Someone who can talk like that to me, must have guts"

"It would be wise if you answered my friend's question" Gaara told her, his eyes piercing into her.

Ignoring his gaze, Azula turned to the soldier "Make Camp here, I wish to speak with these two,"

With only the slightest hesitation the soldier started barking out orders to the others "You heard her, get a camp going!"

Obviously hearing what Azula said, Tai Lee jumped out of the tank doing a full flip in the air before landing next to Azula. Mai slowly pulled herself out of the tank, taking her sweet time, before walking to Azula's other side. "Is this them?" Mai asked Azula in her bored tone. "they don't look that special"

When she said this Naruto was just about to explode at her about just how special he really was, but Gaara stopped him with a hand on his shoulder. At this point Tai Lee rushed forward to the two with giddy smile on her face screaming "OHMYGOSH". Suddenly she was on Naruto "Oh my god! How did you get your hair this color!" She squealed with delight running her hands through his hair.

Everyone, including Gaara sweat dropped at the sight of the struggling Naruto trying to get Tai Lee off of him "Would you get off me! Didn't anyone teach you to keep your hands to yourself?!" he yelled pushing at Tai Lee.

"Tai Lee! Get off our guest" Azula ordered the overly hyperactive girl, before turning and heading ti a large pavilion-like tent that had already been erected "Come with us" she said to the two.

"How was that thing put up so fast?" Naruto asked while trying to put his hair back into it's original position.

Gaara answered with one word only "Fear"

When Naruto and Gaara walked in through the tent flaps, they saw Azula already sitting on a very comfortable looking cushion. She pointed to an empty space on the ground about seven feet in front of her "sit" she ordered.

"I'd prefer to stand" Gaara said flatly, without even looking at her with his arms crossed in front of him.

Naruto looked at Gaara before deciding that at the moment he didn't care what his friend thought and sat down on the ground.

Getting a little angry at Gaara's disrespect, Azula just sat there in the cushion and waited for how these interrogations usually started.

"Sooo... What's your name?" Tai Lee asked the pair, chin resting in her cradled hands.

"It is rude to ask someone's name before offering your own." Gaara stated before Naruto could say anything.

"I'm Tai Lee" She said very upbeat like, before introducing her companions "That's Mai, and that is the fire princess Azula," She told him pointing to them in turn "I told you our names now tell us yours" she said expectantly.

_'The princess? I've heard of this person from other people here in this land, they say she is the cruelest and strongest person in the area. Well that explains all of the fear from the soldiers and this big tent'_ Gaara thought to himself.

"My name's Naruto Uzumaki, former shinobi of the hidden leaf village" he said pointing to himself with one thumb.

Everyone turned to look at Gaara who was still just looking in front of him. After a few seconds of silence Gaara finally looked down at them staring blankly directly at Azula. "My name is Gaara," he said with absolutely no emotion "I am the former Kazekage of the village hidden in the sand"

Actually taking interest in what was being said, Mai looked at the two " 'Hidden Leaf'? 'Hidden Sand'? I've never heard of such places" she said with a questioning tone "where are they?" she asked

"Hidden Leaf is in the fire country" Naruto told them.

_' He's from the fire nation' _ Azula thought _' he certainly doesn't look like it'_

"The sand village is in the country of wind" As soon as Gaara said this, all three girls jumped up into fighting stances, by reflex sending Naruto and Gaara into their fighting stances, well Naruto's at least.

"You're an airbender?" Azula accused Gaara seriously.

"Airbender? What nonsense is this?" Gaara asked as the cork popped off of his gourd.

"Don't play cow with me, airbender" Azula said before smirking "By order of my father, you are to be killed where you stand, for being an airbender. Mai, Tai Lee You take the blonde, I'll fight the airbender."

Mai and Tai Lee turned to Naruto, who was still in his fighting stance. They surged towards him, Mai threw a kunai at Naruto, expecting an easy victory when he didn't react to the knife coming his way. Naruto reached into his pack, grabbed a shuriken and threw it at the kunai with pinpoint accuracy. There was a loud clang as shuriken hit kunai, blocking each other.

Though still surprised, Mai didn't let this slow her down she pulled out some more kunai out of her sleeves and were about to throw them, but was stopped because Tai Lee had gotten in front of her target. Tai Lee now close enough to Naruto to attack, threw a few punches and kicks, aiming for his chakra points (or tenkentsu). Somehow he was able to evade them all, if just barely. But what was strange was that he knew to dodge and not block, as if he knew what she was aiming for. What was making it nearly impossible for Naruto, was that Mai threw kunai, senbon, and Shuriken at every opening she had.

Naruto was fighting for his life, this Tai Lee girl was using her extreme flexibility to attack in ways that he previously thought impossible. After the first few attacks Naruto realized she was aiming for his tenkentsu. Because of this he couldn't block attacks like he usually would he had to dodge them all. And Mai was just adding to the difficulty having to dodge all of her weapons as well. Together, these two fought in perfect unison, making him have to dodge every attack, not giving him time to get on the offensive.

Gaara on the other hand, seemed to be doing well against Azula, mainly because she hadn't even attacked yet. Apparently they have both learned the big rule of violent conflict; Whoever attacks first has the disadvantage. But Azula didn't know Gaara's style of fighting was almost completely defensive, so he never attacks first, and Azula being an all offensive fighter, meant that this did not bode well for her.

Azula, deciding to screw having the advantage, began her attack on Gaara. She rushed forward towards him at a fast pace and jumped at him, her right foot in front of her for a kick in the chest and still Gaara hasn't moved from his position he didn't even look at her. Her attack would have connected but a long band of sand rose from the ground in front her kick, catching it. Azula raised her eyebrows in surprise as the sand slowly covered her foot to the ankle. The sand threw her back making her land in a skid.

"Sand?" she asked, confused.

"Yes, Sand." Gaara answered "This sand has defended me ever since I was born, protecting me from all harm, even against my will"

"You, can bend the sand? You're the second avatar!" Azula said in realization.

"You continuously accuse me of being something I'm not and never will be. I am exactly what I told you I'm Gaara, of the sand" Gaara told her his expression never changing.

"Whatever you are, you're going to die for opposing the fire nation." Azula said extending two fingers shooting a stream of blue fire at Gaara.

Tai Lee was getting tired of this blonde guy being able to dodge all of her attacks. She was doing everything she knew to hit him and even with Mai's help he keeps avoiding everything. She needed to end the battle, but how? She smiled when she figured out what to do.

"What...are you...smiling...at?" Naruto managed to ask between the attacks.

"This!" Tai Lee, answered his question. She suddenly ducked low under Naruto's guard and slid between his legs until she was behind him.

_' Where'd she go?'_ Naruto paused for a fraction of a second, because he couldn't figure out where she went. That tiny hesitation was all Tai Lee needed to hit several of his tenkentsu in his arms, legs, and neck. She expected him to collapse onto the ground, but he did just the opposite, he swung around quickly his hand clenched into a fist and punched her in the gut sending her flying back.

She got up slowly, clenching her stomach in pain "How?" she asked in disbelief "I closed nineteen of your tenkentsu, you shouldn't even be able to stand"

"Ha! I've fought someone stronger than you with all sixty four of my tenkentsu closed and won" Naruto scoffed.

Tai Lee's jaw dropped "That's...that's impossible"

"Oh it's possible" Naruto said with a smirk "Believe it!" he charged back into the fight, but before he could make it to Tai Lee, he was hit in the back from the two handfuls of kunai, courtesy of Mai.

"Uggh!" Naruto grunted in pain as seven kunai stuck into his back. He stood there in pain until Tai Lee delivered a powerful kick to his chest sending him back, his limp body rolling to a stop several feet away.

Gaara was still fighting Azula, and still hasn't moved from his spot. Azula's firebending was easily blocked by his sand. which was heavily imbued with chakra, that is why it hasn't been melted into glass.

Azula was getting tired even though she wouldn't admit it, even to herself. She was about to jump back into battle when she heard Naruto's body roll across the ground. She looked over at him and smirked "Do you see that?" she taunted trying to get a rise out of the stoic red head "Your friend's just been killed, will you surrender now?"

Gaara looked over at Naruto for a few seconds then back at Azula "He's not dead" he said flatly.

Azula looked like she was about to laugh at the insomniac's refusal to accept that his friend was dead. "Just accept the facts, your friend was dea-"

She stopped in mid-sentence because when she looked over at Naruto, she saw him move. He was slowly standing up, his arms hanging limply at his sides "Do you guys have **any freakin' idea**," Naruto's voice seemed to be different, more feral, more... animalistic, he stood up straight looking at the fire nation girls, his irises had changed from their normal deep blue to crimson, his pupils now long vertical slits **"how much that stings!?"** he yelled, scaring the trio greatly.

Gaara walked over to Naruto's side and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Naruto, I think we should leave now," Gaara said "We have lingered here long enough, we shouldn't have even stopped"

"You're right we shouldn't have, but I have a feeling that we would have met anyway" Naruto growled his eyes slowly changing back to normal.

They turned to leave "What are you?" Azula asked truly curious.

They froze at the opening to the outside, Naruto looked slightly over his shoulder, just enough for him to see them. "Jinchuuriki" He spat out the word like the taste of it on his lips made him sick. They then disappeared in a swirl of sand.

**AN: Sorry for the cliffhanger, but I'm tired. To keep it short, cause it's exactly 4:05 AM and I'm not feeling like writing this AN, Read and Review please, and don't forget to submit better summaries for me, thank you.**


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: next chapter yay...it's kinda hard to express half heartedness in written form isn't it? Yeah I know that the last chapter was a little unsatisfactory for some of you, but the reason behind this was because that was technically only the first half of the first chapter. This is the second half. Maybe it will make it seem better, maybe not, but hopefully it will.**

Chapter 2

They stood there, staring at the spot where the two had disappeared. Quickly snapping out of it Azula began issuing orders "Pack up, we're leaving, NOW!" She commanded.

"Where are we going, Azula?" Tai Lee asked inquisitively.

"To the nearest town" she answered "We need to contact my father, to get reinforcements and I need a scholar."

Not wanting to make the angry fire nation princess angrier, the soldiers quickly had the convoy packed up, a messenger bird sent for reinforcements, and the tank convoy heading for the nearest town.

The trio found themselves sitting in the cabin that they were in earlier but they were no longer bored, they were still shaken up from the encounter. There was a knock on the metal door, Azula looked up "Enter"

"I have the drawings done for you, Lady Azula" a soldier said as he walked in, holding wanted posters for Naruto and Gaara.

"Good, now make copies and send them to every city the fire nation has control over" Azula said still angry. "I want everyone to know the faces of the two who attacked the princess"

"Yes ma'am" he said with a bow, then turned around and left.

They all sat there in silence for a few minutes, the sound of the tank moving reverberating through the room.

"Now that I think about it, that blonde guy was pretty cute" Tai Lee piped up.

"OwowowowowowowOW! Naruto yelled in pain "Stop freaking pulling them so hard!"

Naruto and Gaara were currently in a comical position. Naruto had his arms wrapped around a tree his face contorted in pain. Gaara was behind him pulling the kunai out of the blonde's back, which didn't want to come out.

"You have to take these out, they could become infected" Gaara told him calmly.

"No I don't, you know for damn sure that I wont get infected!" Naruto yelled at him.

"Just stop complaining, there's just this last one" Gaara said as he pulled the last kunai out of the blonde's back with a yank, causing him to yowl in pain.

"OOOOWW!!"

"You done?" he sighed at his friend's overly dramatic yell.

"Yeah, let's go" He grunted through grit teeth, before standing up, the pain disappearing from his face being replaced with a wide grin. "let's keep going."

Gaara mentally sighed at his friend's stubbornness. Gaara turned and began to walk east, Naruto right behind him.

They had been walking for about thirty minutes, and Naruto was becoming increasingly worried about the deep punctures in his back, usually wounds like this have healed by this time. And they were causing him more pain now then when they had first pierced his back. He just didn't know why the wounds weren't closing or even why they hurt so much. "Hey Gaara" he got his friend's attention, his voice dry and raspy "I think there was something in those kunai"

Gaara stopped and turned around and looked at him. Naruto's face was a pale, sickly color. "Naruto, are you alright?" he asked.

To Naruto, Gaara's voice seemed to be coming from far away. His vision began to swim and blur, "This is so strange, I've never felt like this before" Naruto managed to say.

"What? What are you feeling, Naruto?" Gaara was starting to get worried.

The edges of Naruto vision began to darken as the world slowly faded away. "I feel...sick" He lost consciousness and collapsed.

Before he could hit the ground a bed of sand caught him. Gaara's sand had caught him. Gaara then realized what had happened to him "Poison" he said in realization.

In the field of medical jutsus and herbs, both Gaara and Naruto were idiots. No one was able to penetrate his sand so Gaara had never needed to learn. And Naruto...well he was just an idiot.

Thinking quickly, Gaara used the rest of his sand to make a platform for himself and began traveling at high speed through the forest, the bottom of the platforms skimming the tops of the trees.

It wasn't long before he saw a slight glow of a campfire ahead. He was almost out of chakra, so he dropped down to the ground. He landed kneeling, panting hard. Gaara looked over at his friend laying on the ground next to him. Refusing to give up Gaara picked Naruto up and ran as fast as he could towards the camp.

Aang and his friends had just gotten camp set up for the night and were about to go to sleep.

"Hey guys" Toph said getting everybody's attention "Someone's coming"

"Aww man, it's not Azula again is it" Sokka asked upset that their rest had been interrupted before they could even fall asleep.

"No this is someone different" Toph said piquing everyone's curiosity "It's one person, and he's carrying something, he's coming from...that direction" she pointed west. and sure enough they heard someone running through the bushes.

Gaara came bursting through the forest into the clearing. He found himself in a camp of kids that couldn't be any older than he was. He looked frantically between the four "Help him!" he said exhaustedly to them "Help him, please!" he almost begged holding Naruto out in front of him.

"Oh my god!" Kataara gasped "Aang help me get this guy," she told the airbender. They rushed foreword and grabbed Naruto out of Gaara's arms. Kataara looked at the exhausted red head "Don't worry we'll take care of him"

Gaara seemed to relax slightly. Relief spread across his face before he collapsed in exhaustion.

Sokka caught him and gently placed him on the ground. "Well, I think we can officially call this the weirdest day ever." he said to Toph who was standing right next to him.

"You can say that again" she answered.

The next morning They realized that the guy with the tattoo on his forehead was just tired, so they let him rest and that the blonde was the one in trouble. Kataara had been working on him for well over an hour, so Sokka decided to check up on them. He walked over to them "how is he?" he asked gesturing to Naruto.

She sighed "He's not going to die, that much is certain. His back was covered with lots of puncture wounds, like he had been stabbed over and over again, but that's not the bad part" she said "Whatever was used to hurt him was poisoned with a Harradus plant. If I had been able to see him when he was first poisoned then maybe I could've removed all the poison, but for now he's going to have a high fever until I can get the rest of it out"

"What do you mean 'all of the poison'" sokka asked, confused.

"It's had enough time to spread all the way through his bloodstream, but I've taken out enough so it's not lethal" She explained to her brother.

Aang, by now, had also come up to listen "What do you need to get the rest of it out?" he asked.

"I need a few herbs to make an antidote," she answered.

"Well the map says that there's a town nearby maybe we can get them there" Sokka suggested.

"Sokka, Aang could you go there and get them fore me?" She asked

"Sure Kataara, let's go Sokka!" Aang ran off with Sokka running after him.

"Wait Aang! You don't even know where the town is!"

Naruto had heard bits and pieces of the conversation as he slipped in and out of consciousness. He opened his eyes just the tiniest bit, the light making him want to close them again. "What the hell happened to me?" he mumbled tiredly "Why am I so sweaty? I'm not dead am I?"

Kataara heard him and leaned over him to look at him better "Nope, you're very much alive, that's good news" she said with a happy smile, before going back to what she was doing.

"Are you sure? I feel dead" he groaned.

"And how would you know that?" she asked with a laugh.

"Lady you have no idea"

"What do you mean?" she asked looking over at him only to see he was unconscious again.

Besides that little encounter, nothing seemed to happen. Eventually Sokka and Aang came back. Aang came running up with a bag in hand and a stupid grin on his face. "Got your plants Kataara!" he exclaimed as Sokka came walking up.

"Hey guys you need to see this" Sokka said quietly handing a couple papers to kataara.

"Why?" Aang asked inquisitively.

"It may explain what happened to these guys" He answered.

"What are they?" Toph asked them.

"They're wanted posters" Aang said in realization after looking at them.

"Five hundred thousand gold pieces each, both for...Attacking the fire nation princess!" Kataara nearly yelled as she read.

"Five hundred thousand!" Toph yelped "That's almost as much as Aang's"

"Yeah, it's clear that Azula wants them dead" Sokka said getting into a thinking pose "But they got that bounty from attacking her. If she wants them dead, then why didn't she just do it herself?" He questioned the air like he actually expected it to answer.

Aang shrugged "Maybe they're fast runners?"

"Maybe..." Sokka murmured scratching his chin in thought. "In any case, we need them to wake up so we can find out exactly what happened"

**AN: and with this we come to a close to the second chapter. And with the end of this I'd like to announce the first pairing of the fanfiction! Much later in the story this will somehow turn into a...(drumroll)NARUTOXTAILEE!! Love it, Hate it, Deal with it. This just happens to be my favorite pairing in any Naruto avatar crossover. It will be hard, but I'll find a way to make it work, believe me.**


	3. Chapter 3

**AN:HAAAAY guys hows it going? well anyways I've been really distracted lately to the extreme and I've decided to put NLNW on hold for awhile and work on this story instead have fun kay?**

Chapter 3

"Human sacrifice?" Mai asked the man skeptically.

"Yes, this is correct" The man said. This man in question was a scholar, and avery unlucky one to boot. He was sitting at home sipping some herbal tea and reading a nice book when two fire nation soldiers came in and took him to see the fire princess. And here he was standing in front of her and her companions discussing a very strange subject.

"But that guy we met was alive, how could he be a sacrifice?" Tai Lee inquired, not knowing she had made a mistake.

"You've met one?!" The scholar nearly yelled "This is such a great find. I wish I was there to see him to."

"Why are you so exited? People are sacrificed all the time" Mai stated.

"No, you don't understand. Yes people are sacrificed, but a Jinchuuriki is different"

"Different? How?" Azula asked, intrigued.

"First of all, there can only be nine at most in existence at any one time"

"Only nine? Why not more?"

"Because, there are only nine tailed demons" he said like it was the most obvious thing ever.

"You don't know what tailed demons are? What do they teach you in your schools?" The room suddenly seemed to heat up about twenty degrees.

"Continue with the explanation if you wish to live" Azula said dangerously.

"Yes princess Azula" he said with a gulp "In ancient times, when humans and spirits used to commune easily, there were the many demons. The most powerful of which were the tailed demons. Their power corresponds to the number of tails they have, like the Ichibi has one tail and so on until the Kyuubi with nine. After awhile the humans became tired of the demons destroying their world and decided to destroy them once and for all. But soon after they realized they could not be destroyed, and settled with an alternative...sealing them away. But there was no object that could hold one" he explained.

"If there were no objects that could hold them then what did they use?" Mai asked.

"Humans" he answered her "Newborn children to be precise"

"Children?" Tai Lee asked in disbelief.

"Now do you understand why they are called human sacrifices?" When he saw the frowns on their faces he continued with a sigh. "When a person becomes a Jinchuuriki, most no longer look at them like they are humans, but as the demons they contain. They go through their lives hated by all, their lives sacrificed so that people may live. In reality Jinchuuriki are heroes by being the jailers of the ones who used to cause the people so much strife. Most of them are quiet and reclusive and distrust most humans. Others go insane from the abuse. It's a fate worse than death."

"That's horrible" Tai Lee said in shock.

"The world is a horrible place, you can't change that" the man told them.

"What about their abilities? Physical appearance?" Azula asked, wanting to find any kind of weakness.

"Well a Jinchuuriki's physical abilities are greatly increased by their demon, because the demon want its host to die. If the host dies the demon dies. They sometimes have strange powers like the Ichibi usually has the ability to control sand" When he said this the fire nation trio seemed to be surprised "As for their appearance...some of their features are influenced by their demons. Like the eyes of a cat or whiskers. These features are usually very sensitive to touch."

There was a long pause as the three girls processed this information. The pause was broken by Azula "Do Jinchuuriki's have any weaknesses?"

This question seemed to stump him. In every book, every ancient text that mentioned a Jinchuuriki, none really gave a straight answer. Racking his brain for information he remembered a story, legend really, about a Jinchuuriki being defeated in battle. "Well?" Azula said expectantly.

"In all the histories I have read, they only have one weakness" He slowly lifted a finger to point to his chest "their heart"

Gaara woke, feeling refreshed. Ever since the Akatsuki had taken Shukaku, he had been able to sleep soundly without the risk of the loss of his soul. The whole concept of sleeping was new to him, but he was getting the hang of it.

Gaara, now fully awake, began to focus on the conscious world. It was dark out, the obvious sign of night. He heard the soft crackling of an open fire. He looked over and saw the group of people he had found earlier. They were all sitting around the fire eating a simple meal of soup and bread.

The bald one with a blue arrow tattoo on his head noticed Gaara staring over at them. "Hey, he's awake!" he announced loudly, getting everyone else's attention too.

"Are you hungry?" the older girl asked him "Because we've got extra"

Gaara got up with a soft grunt and approached the group. Toph handed him a bowl. He sat down and quietly ate the soup, everyone staring at him. Ignoring them, he continued eating. He soon finished and put the bowl down and looked at them. "It appears you want to ask me some questions, but before you do tell me, where is my companion?" he asked the older girl calmly.

"He's over there" she pointed to the blonde's sleeping form. Gaara looked over at his unconscious friend, glad to see that he was alive.

"Okay, now you may ask yours. I can tell you anything you wish to know about me, but him..." he paused taking a look at Naruto "There are parts of his life I will not divulge, for risk of ruining our friendship"

"Well that's understandable" Aang said "So first question, who are you guys?"

"I am Gaara, former Kazekage of the sand. He is my... friend, Naruto Uzumaki." he introduced himself and Naruto.

This time Toph spoke "Where are you guys from?"

Gaara thought for a second, remembering what happened last time he said where he was from, before answering "From land very far away"

"That didn't really answer my question, but alright then" Toph shrugged

Kataara was about to ask something but Sokka spoke first "How do you explain these?" He said accusingly, thrusting the wanted posters at Gaara.

Gaara took the papers and read them slowly. After about a minute Gaara started to chuckle. "What's so funny?" Kataara asked

Gaara answered without looking up "We've been in this land for a few days and we're already wanted men, and for false accusations too." he added

"False accusations?" Sokka asked confused "What do you mean?"

Gaara looked up at them "She attacked us not the other way around" he told them

"I think you should tell us what happened" Sokka suggested

"Okay, well it all started like this..." And Gaara told them the story of the interrogation and the fight, taking care to leave out the Kyuubi. He told them what exactly happened to Naruto, how he was hit with a bunch of kunai in the back and how he was able to still stand up afterwards. He even told them about how he was mistaken for the Avatar. They could hear a hint of confusion in his voice when he said this.

"You mean to tell us that you were attacked by Azula, Mai and Tai Lee and won?" Sokka said dumbfounded.

"Yes, I also noticed their vehicle turned around and started heading in the opposite direction" Kataara said

"What do you mean?" Gaara asked

"They've been chasing us for a few days now, not allowing us to rest" Kataara explained

"Why has Azula been chasing you?" he asked

"Well, he's the avatar" she answered pointing to Aang

"What's an Avatar?" Gaara asked

So they proceeded to explain to Gaara about the four countries, the war, and bending.

"Where's my gourd?" Gaara asked them

"Right here" Sokka said straining with the weight of it "But I think it's sealed shut"

"What makes you think that?"

"Well... uh... I kinda tried to open it" he told him

"Be grateful you did not try that a few years ago" Gaara said as he strapped the gourd to his back

"Why?" Aang asked

"Because I would have killed you" Gaara said with his monotone, everyone froze when he said this. Sokka suddenly broke out in a cold sweat. "Now watch" Gaara said pulling the cork out of the gourd. Sand began pouring out of it, spilling onto the ground in a heap. They all just stared at him waiting to see something.

"Well? are you going to just stand there?" Sokka asked the red head.

"I'm a defensive fighter, I want one of you to attack me" Gaara explained

"I'll do it!" Toph grunted, stomping on the ground making a boulder come out of it and float in front of her. The blind girl kicked it straight at Gaara making it race forewords.

Even though they explained to him what bending was it still shocked him to see her mastery over the earth without the use of handsigns. It was truly amazing. Despite his shocked state, the small pile of sand in front of him came to life and rose off the ground, making a wall just in time to intercept the rock. Stone collided, making the sand splash. The rock seemed to be slowly sinking sideways into the two inch thick wall of sand, until it disappeared into it completely. Suddenly pores opened up on the wall of sand and little pellet sized rocks came shooting out like bullets. Everyone jumped out of the way. The stone bullets continued on their path into a tree, going through it completely decimating the trunk. There was a large crack as the tree fell down.

Aang, Kataara, and Sokka looked in awe at the felled tree then at Gaara. His sand began to slowly swirl around him, flowing like water into the gourd once more. "There now you have seen how I control the sand" Gaara said in his quiet monotone.

They were all walking down the road, Naruto still unconscious laying on a bed of Gaara's sand. Gaara and Kataara were walking next to him.

"When will he wake up?" he asked her, without even looking

Kataara looked up at him "I don't know probably in about a week" she answered

Gaara looked up at the sky like he was thinking. After about thirty seconds he looked back down in his original position "He'll be up sometime today." he said flatly

This just confused and frustrated her "I just said about a week, what makes you think he'll be up today?"

Naruto has an extraordinarily fast healing rate, many times faster than that of a normal person" he told her "I asked you when he would wake up because you would give me the time when a normal person would wake up"

"That's impossible no one heals that fast" She gasped because Naruto had begun to stir.

His eyes squinted open to look up at them. He could see the clouds in the backround and his first thought was 'Aww man I really am dead' He then noticed the figures above him. He noticed one of them was Gaara "Gaara, your dead too? Well this sucks"

"Naruto sit up, I'm not dead and neither are you." Gaara told him.

Grunting, Naruto slowly sat up. Once he did he grabbed his head in pain "OW, I've got the biggest headache" he complained

"Yeah well, at least you've got a thick skull" Gaara insulted him.

Naruto, forgetting the pain in his head, got angry and grabbed Gaara from the front of his shirt and pulled him in close. "If you want to start a fight then you just name the time and pla-" his voice trailed off as he noticed all the people standing around him. "uhh Gaara? Who are these people?"

"Hi I'm Aang!" Aang introduced himself with a wide grin.

"umm... hi?" he said sheepishly "I'm Naruto, and you guys are...?"

"They are the ones that saved you" Gaara told his blonde friend.

"Saved me? Saved me from what?"

"Those kunai were poisoned Naruto" Gaara said

Naruto looked over at Aang "well thanks, I guess"

"Don't thank me, thank Kataara. She was the one who removed the poison and made the antidote" Aang pointed to Kataara.

"Well then, thank you Kataara"

"It was nothing really" Kataara said. She was starting to get embarrassed.

"So where are we going?" Naruto asked, hopping off of the sand.

"We're going to Ba Sing Sae" Sokka told him.

"The sheep sang what now?" Naruto asked, confused.

"Bang Sing Sae, it's the earth kingdom capitol. We need to get some information to the earth king so we can end the war" Kataara explained.

Naruto grinned "That sounds fun. What do you say Gaara, you up to it?"

The red haired teen stared down at the ground. After a few seconds he looked back up at his friend. "Why not, we've got nothing better to do"

Azula was deep in thought 'Their heart?' she knew that the scholar wasn't speaking of his literal beating heart. 'I must attack something that he loves... but what?' she did not yet know enough about these jinchuuriki to know what they love.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a soldier who knocked on the door. "Enter" she ordered.

The soldier came in and bowed before saying "Princes, we've just received a message from the armies attacking Ba Sing Sae. The message was just two words and don't seem to make sense"

"Just tell me already" she ordered angrily

"It's ready" he said simply

Azula's eyebrow quirked upwards "is it now...? Set a course for Ba Sing Sae, get me there as fast as this tank can take me"

"Yes Ma'am," the soldier said with a smart salute before leaving the room.

Completely forgetting the problems with the jinchuuriki, Naruto and Gaara, Azula leaned back in her comfortable chair with an evil smirk. "This is going to be fun"

**AN: as always read and review and other fun stuff to help my self asteem**


	4. Chapter 4

**AN: I think by now you might have noticed I'm going to follow the main story line, except with a few random changes of how I think Gaara and Naruto should effect the story line. I know it might seem a little boring at times because you've probably already seen these episodes a few times over. But usually there's going to be a difference when Naruto starts to effect everything. Now I'm not going to divulge any details but the pairing I've told you guys about is going to start up very very soon.**

Chapter 4

The group had decided to take a break from their traveling so they could rest and eat lunch. Aang and Katara were playing around in a pool of water. Toph was sunbathing on a rock listening to Sokka argue with himself about the map. Gaara was sitting, quietly watching the others, Naruto sitting next to him not looking too happy.

"Why can't I go swimming again?" he asked

"For the fifth time, you can't partake in any kind of strenuous activity" Gaara answered

"But why?" Naruto whined

"Because you were poisoned with a harradus plant, one of the most dangerous things on the planet" Gaara told him yet again "It's poison not only flows through your system at an incredible rate but small amounts of it stores itself in your body fat. You burn any of it you could reintroduce it into your blood"

Naruto looked over at Gaara, confusion written all over his face. "You'll make yourself sick again"

"But I..."

"Don't make me call Katara over here again"

"Ugh...fine" Naruto, in all honesty would much rather not make the water tribe girl angry. Though not very threatening looking, she could be a scary person when she wanted to be, though not as scary as Tsunade or Sakura was, because Katara didn't inflict as much physical damage to him.

It was then that his thoughts started to travel in another direction when he remembered Sakura and that night long ago. The night everything went wrong. The night he left. The night she-

He was suddenly jerked out of his thoughts when Katara yelled "Water bending bomb!" and cannon balled from a cliff high above into the pond. When she hit the water she created a splash that was many times the size it should have been and dousing everybody around.

"Sure" Sokka said sarcastically "5000 year old maps from the spirit library, just splash some water on them!"

"Sorry" Katara apologized while ringing out her hair. She then moved her arms in a familiar, flowing way removing the water from the old parchment.

"So which route are we going to take to get to Ba Sing Sae?" Gaara asked

"Well I've been looking at the maps and it seems that the only thing connecting the south to the north is this little sliver of land called the serpents pass" Sokka explained pointing to the drawings on the map.

"Serpent's pass?" Naruto asked with a fearful gulp

"Yeah is that a problem?"

Toph knew an opportunity when she heard one "Aww is the little baby scared of snakes?" she teased

"What?!" Naruto asked incredulously "No! I'm not scared of those slithering monsters!" Naruto boasted half heartedly. He certainly wasn't fond of the creatures.

Gaara noticed his friend's distress and tried to help a little "is this the only way there?"

"Yeah it's the only way, I mean it's not like we have Appa to fly us there." Sokka stated

"Shush up about Appa, can't you even try to be sensitive?" Katara whispered to her brother.

Naruto and Gaara both knew about the flying bison, the others had explained Aang's mood swings every time that name was mentioned around him. Though they still had a hard time believing that a 2 ton animal could fly.

Aang sighed at Katara's comment "Katara I'm fine, I know I was upset about Appa before but right now I just want to focus on getting to Ba Sing Sae and telling the earth king about the solar eclipse"

"Oh okay" katara said quietly "as long as you're doing better."

"Okay then" Sokka said gathering up the maps "Then to Ba Sing Sae we go, no more distractions."

It wasn't three seconds after he said these words when a voice behind them said "Hello fellow refugees!"

When they turned to look they saw the voice belonged to a man in his mid thirties. Next to him was a pregnant woman her hands placed on her stomach and the small of her back, and a younger woman.

"Are you headed to Ba Sing Sae too?" Aang asked

"Sure are" the man answered "We're trying to get there before my wife Ying has her baby"

"Great we can travel through the serpent's pass together." Katara suggested.

"The serpent's pass?" Ying gasped "only the truly desperate dare to take that route."

"Nice pick Sokka, deadly route, I sure as hell am not taking that anymore!" Naruto exclaimed.

"You should come with us to Full Moon Bay" the man suggested to the group "ferries take refugees across the lake, it's the fastest way to Ba Sing Sae"

"And it's hidden so the fire nation can't find it" Ying added

"Hmm... peaceful ferry ride or deadly pass?" Katara asked the air in mock deliberation.

"This shouldn't even be a choice to make, we should take the ferry" Gaara said

"Seriously Gaara, it's sarcasm. We seriously need to have a talk about this"

Later the same day they made it to a long tunnel through the mountain that seemed like it hit a dead end until the wall dropped to reveal a huge cavern filled with thousands of people.

Gaara looked around at the groups of people huddled together eating rotten soup and trying to stay warm in their tents. "No doubt this is the fire nation's doing" he said flatly

"Many people are fleeing their homes for hopes of finding a new life behind Ba Sing Sae's walls" Ying's husband told him.

After asking around they found the place where tickets were being issued. And after a rather brutal confrontation about a man with a cabbage cart, they were next in line.

"Umm... six tickets to Ba Sing Sae please" Aang asked the very mean sounding lady behind the counter meekly.

"Passports?" she asked bluntly

"We need passports?" Naruto asked after walking up next to Aang

"Don't you know who this is? This is the Avatar" Sokka introduced Aang to her.

"Uggh" she grunted in disgust "I see at least fifty avatars every day, besides no animals aloud" she said pointing at Momo on Aang's shoulder. "No passports no tickets"

"I'll take care of this" Toph said muscling past Aang and Naruto. "My name is Toph Bei Fong and I need six tickets" she told the lady pushing a piece of paper onto her counter.

"The golden seal of the flying boar!" she gasped in awe "it is my pleasure to help anyone of the Bei Fong family" She said giving a bow without leaving her seat.

"it is your pleasure, as you can see I'm blind and these three imbeciles are my valets" she said gesturing with her hand at Katara, Sokka, and Aang. She then pointed at Naruto and Gaara "and these other two are my personal bodyguard"

Naruto and Gaara looked at each other then back at the lady. It was easy for them to be convincing, for they've both been bodyguards numerous times before. They walked up to either side of Toph and just waited as if waiting for orders.

"B-but the animal" the lady started before being interrupted by toph

"Is my seeing eye lemur"

She began looking between the six teens and gave in. It all seemed to be true so she gave in. "I guess I can make an exception for someone of the Bei Fong family." she said before stamping six tickets.

"Thank you very much" Toph pretended to thank the old grouch and walking away from the counter, handing her friends the tickets.

"That bitchy broad," Naruto grumbled once he got his ticket "I hope someone comes up and destroys her whole "organized society" thing she has over there" The next thing he knew he got whipped over the back of the head, very painfully knocking him onto the ground "ouch" he groaned rubbing the back of the head.

He looked behind him to see what had hit him and saw Katara bottling up the water she used for bending "Watch your language, Naruto. Or I'll have to punish you" she said aggressively.

"Sorry sorry didn't mean it!" Naruto said placatingly trying to calm down the water master.

This scene Made Sokka start snickering to himself. He could remember the first time he heard some of the older men of the southern water tribe saying curse words. The first time he cracked one out Katara actually made his very first snow tower fall down onto him. That was actually the first time she started waterbending.

Suddenly he felt himself get jerked backwards by his collar. The one pulling his collar was a teenaged girl wearing a security uniform. "Tickets and passports please" she said forcefully, with her hand out.

"Is there a problem?" Sokka asked, confused.

"Yeah I've got a problem with you" she said angrily "I've seen your type before, probably sarcastic, think you're hilarious, and let me guess... You're traveling with the avatar?"

By now the others had stopped to see what sokka had gotten himself into this time, and were listening to what she was saying. When she said the last part Naruto said "Those are some _really_ good guesses"

"Do I know you?" Sokka asked

This just seemed to make her even angrier. She grabbed him by the front of his shirt. "You mean you don't remember? Maybe you remember this" she leaned in and kissed him on the cheek, startling everyone, especially Sokka, who looked like his brain just fizzled out before he was struck with realization.

"Suki!" He exclaimed.

"Sokka it's good to see you"

Naruto stood there with his mouth agape as he watched the two "What is going on here?!"

Sokka turned to face him with an arm around Suki "This is Suki, she's a good friend of ours. Suki these are our new friends, Naruto and Gaara" he said gesturing to the two in turn.

"We seem to be gathering a lot of unwanted attention to ourselves" Gaara said in his normal listless tone of voice.

"Gaara's right, how about we move this conversation elsewhere" Katara suggested

A few minutes later found the group in one of the towers lining the lake inside the large cavern.

"So you really fought those three? and Lived?" Suki gasped after hearing Gaara's and Naruto's story.

"Yeah it was easy, she wasn't all that tough!" Naruto said pulling his nice guy pose, a big smile and a thumbs up.

"And you would know how?" Gaara interjected through Naruto's pose "You never fought her, you fought the other two. It was me who battled Azula. If hadn't been there, you would have probably died after you got poisoned"

"You gotta ruin everybody's fun don't ya" Naruto said his arms hanging limply at his sides his face drooping downwards.

"Poisoned?" Suki asked

"Yeah he was poisoned by a harradus plant, which is one of the reasons why we're trying to get to Ba Sing Sae, so we can make an antidote for him" Katara told her.

"So why are guys getting tickets for the ferry, can't you just fly over the lake on Appa?"

Everyone but the ninja suddenly looked downcast at the mention of Appa "That's the other reason we're going to Ba Sing Sae. Appa is missing"

"I'm sorry to hear that," Suki said empathetically, before looking at Aang "Are you doing okay?"

This just seemed to make Aang frustrated "I'm fine, will everybody just stop worrying about me?!"

"Avatar Aang" a voice from below called, when they looked down they saw it was the group they had escorted to full moon bay earlier. "You have to help us! Somebody took all of our belongings, our passports, our tickets. Everything is gone!" She begged Aang.

Naruto jumped up onto the railing "Don't worry! We'll talk to that lady for you guys, just you wait!" Naruto said confidently

"No passports no tickets!" The old lady grouched stamping both Aang's and Naruto's head with the stamp used to legalize tickets.

"But she's pregnant and all their stuff was stolen!" Aang tried to be reasonable "Please you just have to make an exception"

"NO Exceptions!" She yelled immediately "If I just gave out tickets willy-nilly there would be no order! And you know what that means, No more civilization!"

"What if we gave them our tickets?" Aang insisted.

"No!"

"but-"

"Next!"

"Grrr, let me try" Naruto growled throwing his finger into her face "look here you old hag! You'd better give them more tickets or I'm just gonna have to-mmph mmph mmmnh!!!" Sokka and Toph had grabbed him across the mouth silencing him, before dragging him away.

"We're sorry for our friend's behavior he just doesn't know how to control himself" Sokka apologized to the old lady with a big fake smile.

Aang walked up to the wife, husband and friend "Don't worry, you'll make it to the city safely." he reassured them "I'm going to lead you through the serpent's pass"

**AN: WOOT! chappy finished, had fun with it hope you guys do, I know these chapters probably not long enough but who cares? (besides you guys of course). well just wanna tell you guys there will probably be a chapter for each episode. I know there's going to be two chapters for this episode. This chapter actually ends at 9 min and 8 seconds into the episode so there will be more of that. and it will have alot more different type of story in it. and for you Gaara lovers! I know you exist, Gaara will play a huge role in chapter 6! just use the imagination! as always Read and review, if you don't i'll kill you all!!... then have cartman fart in your face.**


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